Christmas Sugar Cookies

This is my favorite sugar cookie recipe of all time. It makes the perfect dough that is easy to roll out and the cut out designs hold their shape perfectly. I use 1/4″ dowels as guides to roll the dough to a perfectly even thickness, but you can just estimate a 1/4″ if you don’t already have the dowels. This recipe is adapted from: Pretty Party Cakes: Sweet and Stylish Cakes and Cookies for all Occasions.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 sticks of unsalted butter, softened but still cool

1 cup of sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 tsp. salt

1 TB vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. almond extract

3 cups (13.5 oz, 383 g) unbleached all-purpose flour

Cream your butter and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Do this just until no bits of butter remain un-incorporated. The key is to not over mix the butter, that way the cut out cookies will retain their sharp lines.

Add the eggs, salt, and extracts. Mix until just combined.

Add in the flour and mix until no dry bits of flour remain. Turn your dough out onto a very lightly floured counter and knead it a few times by hand to make sure the dough is evenly mixed. Divide the dough into two pieces and wrap them in plastic wrap. Place them into the refrigerator for 1 hour or up to 3 days.

Roll the cookies out a floured counter to the desired thickness. Then place them, evenly spaced on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Put them back in the refrigerator while your oven preheats.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees with the racks even spaced in the middle of the oven.

Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through (that is if you are baking more than one tray at a time). The cookies will be still very light but they will be firm to the touch and slightly brown on the underside. Allow the cookies to cool completely on a wire rack before decorating them with royal icing.